This invention relates to spring fasteners, and more particularly to those fasteners which are suitable to be engaged in a slot of a solid sheet.
A number of fasteners, which are suitable to be engaged in a slot of a solid sheet, especially in the Automotive Industry, have been used in the past for securing an object on the solid sheet through the engaged fastener.
These fasteners comprise one or more engagement segments. In a first class of fasteners, the engagement segment is caused to reside under the surface of the solid sheet, in the vicinity of the slot, in order to hold the fastener secured on said solid sheet. Another object may be secured also on the fastener, with the end result to connect the object to the solid sheet.
In such an occasion, the thickness of the solid sheet and the dimensions of the engagement segment have to be designed within very strict tolerances in order to minimize lose connection of the fastener to the solid sheet. Even with the very strict tolerances, if the engagement depends only on springingly snapping the engagement segment into position, there will still be some play.
In the state of the art, a number of solutions have been proposed and utilized, which solutions however, have introduced a different problem. According to this second class of fasteners, the engagement segment comprises an insertion section and an engagement section connected by a separating bent. The engagement section does not go completely through the slot, but the surface of the engagement section is springingly forced against an edge of the slot. Therefore, any differences in the thickness of the solid sheet are accommodated by the length of the engagement section. However, the fastener may now be removed from the slot with a much lower force, than if the engagement section were forced to be all the way under the surface of the solid sheet in the vicinity of the slot.
Due to the different angles that the insertion section and the engagement sections have with respect to the direction of the insertion, it is usually easier to insert the fastener into the slot than to remove it.
Removal of the fastener is in some occasions desirable, while in some other occasions may be catastrophic for the application.
In any event, it is always desirable to have the possibility of increasing the removal force to a desired degree.
Some examples of the state of the art fasteners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,987,714, 5,636,891, 5,632,584, 5,285,551, 5,249,900, 5,186,517, 4,630,338, 4,402,108, and 3,889,320, among a plurality of others.
None of the above references, however, discloses, suggests or implies the intricate and critical combinations of elements disclosed and/or claimed in the instant invention.
Non-Provisional Patent Applications Nos. 09/969,563, 09/493,476, and 10/164,493, which are incorporated herein by reference, also pertain fasteners of the above classes, and they provide solutions for miscellaneous problems.
As aforementioned, this invention relates to spring fasteners characterized by a structure suitable to be engaged in a slot. More particularly, this invention pertains a spring fastener comprising a spring fastener comprising a snapping engagement segment, the snapping engagement segment having an insertion section and an engagement section, the insertion section and the engagement section separated by a separating bent, the engagement section comprising a base and an engagement bent portion, the engagement bent portion directed away from the base at a first angle, and comprising peaks and recesses, the base having a middle portion and an edge portion.
Although the first angle may have any value, it is preferably substantially 90xc2x0 or greater.
The recesses may reach the base or extend within the base with a final direction toward the middle of the base.
In one embodiment of the invention, the peaks have a front side, and a back side, and the front side being longer than the back side.
In certain occasions, it is preferable for the engagement bent portion to have only one single peak with a respective recess in the vicinity of the separating bent.
The engagement bent portion may be disposed over the edge portion of the base, or it may be disposed over any other location of the base, such as the vicinity of the middle portion of the base, for example.
This invention also pertains method of making a spring fastener,
the spring fastener comprising a snapping engagement segment, the snapping engagement segment having an insertion section and an engagement section, the insertion section and the engagement section separated by a separating bent, the engagement section comprising a base and an engagement bent portion, the engagement bent portion directed away from the base at a first angle, and comprising peaks and recesses, the base having a middle portion and an edge portion;
the method comprising a step of cutting a flat blank corresponding to the spring fastener, and a step of bending to a desired angle part of the portion corresponding to the engagement section and comprising peaks and recesses, thereby forming the engagement bent portion of the engagement segment of the fastener.
Vehicles comprising the spring fastener of this invention, connecting two parts, one of the parts comprising a slot in which the fastener is secured by the snapping engagement segment, are also included within the scope of the instant invention.